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cbabe

cbabe's Journal
cbabe's Journal
December 15, 2025

'A case killer': Legal analyst stunned by Trump DOJ's latest 'cover-up' attempt

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-doj-2674398750/

'A case killer': Legal analyst stunned by Trump DOJ's latest 'cover-up' attempt

Robert Davis
December 14, 2025 6:41PM ET



President Donald Trump's Department of Justice has been pursuing charges against Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) for allegedly assaulting a federal officer during a protest outside of an immigration facility in Newark, New Jersey, in May. Recently, the DOJ was forced to turn over text messages to McIver's defense team that show DOJ officials knew McIver did not assault the officer, and said the video the Trump administration relied on for the prosecution did not show her assaulting the officer either.



The Department of Justice is always trying to cover up the truth, and it always comes back to bite them in the a--," Gill said.

McIver was arrested during a protest against Trump's deportation policies in Newark, New Jersey, in May, when she and other Congressional lawmakers attempted to prevent Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, a Democrat, from being arrested by federal agents, the New Jersey Monitor reported.



Gill described the DOJ withholding that evidence as a "case killer."

//

December 13, 2025

'This extraordinary story never goes out of fashion': 30 authors on the books they give to everyone

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/dec/13/this-extraordinary-story-never-goes-out-of-fashion-30-authors-on-the-books-they-give-to-everyone

‘This extraordinary story never goes out of fashion’: 30 authors on the books they give to everyone

Colm Tóibín, Robert Macfarlane, Elif Shafak, Michael Rosen and more share the novels, poetry and memoirs that make the perfect gift

Sat 13 Dec 2025 04.00 EST

… more …

(What’s on your list? Mine includes Wind in the Willows and Einstein’s Dreams by Alan Lightman. Best book without words: The Arrival by Shaun Tan.)
December 13, 2025

How your cat ended up on your lap: A book challenges the history of the domestication of the most popular feline

https://english.elpais.com/society/2025-12-13/how-your-cat-ended-up-on-your-lap-a-book-challenges-the-history-of-the-domestication-of-the-most-popular-feline.html#

How your cat ended up on your lap: A book challenges the history of the domestication of the most popular feline

Archaeologist and anthropologist Jerry Moore reviews the findings that explain a relationship marked first by fear and then by mutual interest and admiration

PATRICIA FERNÁNDEZ DE LIS
Madrid - DEC 12, 2025 - 23:30 EST

Jerry Moore recounts how the question struck him one evening in his living room. This archaeologist and writer had his cat on his lap; he gazed at it intently, and pondered: “How on earth did this get here?” The answer to his question is Cat Tales: A History (Thames & Hudson), a vast and ambitious book, written from the perspectives of archaeology and anthropology, in which Moore takes us on a journey spanning from the Pliocene era of terrifying saber-toothed beasts to Instagram cat videos. It is a history of thousands of years of coexistence, from mutual predation to happy domestication, demonstrating that the question Moore posed has a very complex answer.

… more …

December 12, 2025

US citizen arrested by ICE in Minneapolis because he 'looks Somali'

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/us-citizen-arrested-by-ice-in-minneapolis-because-he-looks-somali/ar-AA1S9C1O

US citizen arrested by ICE in Minneapolis because he 'looks Somali'

Story by Olivia Ireland

American man was dragged out of a restaurant, forcibly arrested, and detained for two hours by masked federal immigration officers, according to reports.



Due to Mubashir’s refusal to have his picture taken, he was in the car for almost an hour. The agents also tried to take his fingerprints; however, their machine was not working.

Mubashir said the officers drove him to the ICE detention facility at Fort Snelling, a 17-minute drive from where he was arrested. He claimed the officers were lost and did not know their surroundings.

“They kept going back on the same highway. I told them, ‘are you guys lost?; they said, ‘this is our first time taking someone in’. They had their maps out and everything and they were trying to intimidate me,” he said.

Once they arrived, the officers kept him outside until he agreed to have his face scanned; however, like the first machine, the second machine was not working, so he was brought inside.

… more …

(Not getting great results for our taxes.)

December 12, 2025

Protesters blare noise to prevent ICE agents from sleeping at Minnesota hotel

https://www.rawstory.com/ice-hotel-protests-minnesota/

Protesters blare noise to prevent ICE agents from sleeping at Minnesota hotel

David Edwards
December 12, 2025 11:53AM ET

Protesters in Minnesota tracked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents to an Edina hotel, where they engaged in loud demonstrations to make sleeping uncomfortable.

They're terrorizing our neighbors by day and retreats in their cushy hotel rooms at night!" one protester shouted on Thursday night amid drums and loud music outside a Hilton hotel.



"YES! My People in Minnesota found the ICE Nazis hotel….no sleep for ICE Nazis ✊🏾!" Lucas Sanders commented on X.

//

(Wonder what other hotel guests are thinking? Checking out en masse?)

December 11, 2025

Judge in Oregon Blocks Arrest of Protesters for Noise

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/10/us/politics/trump-arrests-protesters-noise-ruling.html

Judge in Oregon Blocks Arrest of Protesters for Noise

Federal agents outside an ICE detention facility in Eugene, Ore., had sought to enforce a new rule that prohibits “creating a loud or unusual noise” outside federal property.

By Chris Cameron
Reporting from Washington
Published Dec. 10, 2025
Updated Dec. 11, 2025, 5:22 a.m. ET

A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily blocked the Trump administration from enforcing a new regulation that criminalizes “creating a loud or unusual noise” near a federal building in Oregon, amid ongoing protests outside of immigration detention facilities in the state.

Three times in November, federal agents arrested or threatened to arrest two protesters on a sidewalk outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Eugene, Ore. The agents cited new regulations that expand the government’s authority to arrest people near federal property.

The law had previously prohibited “creating a loud or unusual noise, noxious odor or other nuisance” while on federal property. Last month, the noise prohibition was expanded to include “areas outside federal property that affects, threatens or endangers federal property or persons on federal property.”

The two protesters, Chloe Longworth and Anna Lardner, filed a lawsuit over their treatment by federal agents. Two times, they were using a megaphone while protesting. Once, a federal officer threatened to arrest Ms. Longworth for “yelling.”

Judge Ann Aiken of the Federal District Court in Oregon ruled that the plaintiffs had “raised serious questions” over whether the rule was vague and overly broad, and whether federal agents had infringed on their constitutional right to freedom of speech in a way that created a chilling effect on their regular protests.

… more …

(Boys with weapons scared of yelling. Oh boy.)

December 11, 2025

Secretive New Mexico Data Center Plan Races Forward Despite Community Pushback

https://truthout.org/articles/secretive-new-mexico-data-center-plan-races-forward-despite-community-pushback/

Secretive New Mexico Data Center Plan Races Forward Despite Community Pushback

To power the growing demand for AI, New Mexico is gearing up to build a data center with a city-sized carbon footprint.

By Dan Ross , TRUTHOUT
Published December 10, 2025

At the very Southeastern tip of New Mexico bordering Texas and Mexico, a new artificial intelligence (AI) data center is gearing up to be a greenhouse gas and air pollution behemoth, an additional water user in a drought-afflicted region, and a sower of community discontent.

Project Jupiter is one of five sites in the $500 billion Stargate Project, a national pipeline of massive AI systems linked with OpenAI, Oracle, and SoftBank.

“Health is my biggest concern. I’m worried about the air pollution, the ozone, and the buzzing noise,” local resident José Saldaña Jr., 45, told Truthout. Saldaña has lived in Sunland Park, New Mexico, nearly his entire life, and he’s worried about Project Jupiter’s added environmental footprint in a pollution hotspot. Another big data center is going up in nearby El Paso, Texas. He lives less than two miles from a landfill that emits such an unpleasant smell, he can’t even hang his clothes out to dry.

“I’m just trying to stand up for my community,” Saldaña said of his opposition to the facility. But the project is racing ahead, and has already cleared one important hurdle: financing, including a massive tax break for the data center’s backers.

… more … protest sign: I can’t drink data…
December 11, 2025

Iran, Egypt oppose World Cup 'Seattle Pride Match'

https://mynorthwest.com/local/iran-egypt-world-cup-seattle-pride/4171519

Iran, Egypt oppose World Cup ‘Seattle Pride Match’

Dec 11, 2025, 5:00 AM

BY AARON GRANILLO
KIRO Newsradio Anchor

Two countries that criminalize homosexuality are set to play a World Cup match in Seattle that’s designed to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.

Now, both Egyptian and Iranian football federations have formally objected.

Organizers have dubbed the June 26 event at Lumen Field as the first-ever “Pride Match” at a FIFA World Cup, a city‑led initiative aimed at showcasing inclusivity and acceptance. The match aligns with Seattle’s annual Pride Festival.

Egypt rejects Seattle’s World Cup Pride Match

Egypt’s federation sent a letter to FIFA, categorically rejecting any activities related to supporting homosexuality during the match. Iran’s sports minister and federation president also complained to FIFA, stating they will not permit LGBTQ+ symbolism around their team.

Seattle’s local World Cup organizing committee, SeattleFWC26, along with the Pride Match Advisory Committee, said the event will continue as planned.

… more …

December 11, 2025

Positive Obsession: the life and times of Octavia Butler

Susana M. Morris
HarperCollins 2025

Biography, literary analysis, politics and politicians (her take on Reagan, Bush 1&2, t et al are perfect). History of everything.

She loved horses.

She was a MacArthur Genius grant recipient. Unheard of for a sci fi writer.

Also a terribly lonely loner.

The book is an easy read. And I want to know more.

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